Clothes washer



Jan. 4, 1949.

' N. H. HENDERSONY CLOTHES WASHER 2 Sheets-Shet 1 Original Filed A il15, 1959 INVEN TOR.

Jan. 4, 1949.

H. HENDERSON CLOTHES WASHER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed April 13.1939 v JNVENTKOR.

Reisaued Jan. 4, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLOTHES -WASHER INelson H. Henderson, Syracuse, N. Y., assignor,

by mesne assignments, to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich, acorporation of Delaware Original No. 2,301,046, dated November 3, 1942,Serial No. 361,324, October 15, 1940, which is a division of Serial'No.267,575, April 13, .1939. Application for reissue April 20, 1944, SerialN 0.

This invention relates to clothes Washing machines and isa division ofmy pending application Serial No. 267,575 (Patent No. 2,300,421) andpertains in particular to the system of planetary v gearing describedtherein which transmits alter- When the tub is rotated for drying theagitator takes on the same speed as the tub.

The change from one motion to the other made to take place gradually andalso the centrifugal force acting on certain parts of ,the planetarygear unit is used to help pick up the spinning load as the speedincreases. Thus it helps the friction drive to carry the spinning loadby acting as a centrifugal clutch. This feature allows the change fromwashing to drying conditions to be made by one operation. The nature ofthis invention, together with the objects thereof, and the advantages tobe derived therefrom, particularly when applied to a clothes washer,will appear in the course of the following description of a preferredembodiment which is illustrated in the drawings forming part of thisspecification.

Figure l is a vertical section of the washing machine cabinet on line lof Figure 2 showing the inside parts in elevation.

Figure 2 is asection on the line 22 of Figure 1 showing a top View ofthe gear case.

Figure 3 is a section on.a larger scale of the gear case as taken online 3-3 of Figure 4 and with the cover of the inside or planetary gearcase removed.

Figure 4 is a view partly in section taken on line 4--4 of Figure 3.

Referring now to the drawings, the base of the machine comprises arectangular pan I preferably made of sheet metal and which supports 16Claims. (Cl. 68-23) which the clothes are placed and removed. The

tub is indicated at 1.

Near the bottom and below the tub is a partition 8 having a ho1e'5l atthe center and de-- signed to receive overflow from the tub. The

drives agitator l3.

2 tub 1 preferably has sloping sides so that when it spins the waterwill rise and discharge through openings 9 against the inside of thecabinet wall from whence it falls into the pocket formed by thepartition 8' and then flows into the pump inlet ill. The pump isindicated at l I.

The outlet l2 of the pump can be arranged to deliver the waste waterinto a sink or to some other waste connection.

The agitator I3 is similar to others well known in the art and washes inthe same general way. Water can be supplied through the top opening byany means such as pipe l5. I I

The gear case 3 contains a train of gears and a planetary support l8which holds part of them, together with a segment!!! which segment isarranged to impart oscillations to the center post 20 which in turndrives the agitator I3 for washing. e

The cover 55 of the gear case 3 has an upstanding hub 56 which forms abearing for the tubular shaft 44 and through which the latter is adaptedto rotate and move axially.

The planetary support It! supports the tub by means of hollow shaft 44and is in turn supported first, while spinning. by the spiral gear 2| asshown in Fig. 4 and second, while stationary, by

the brake ring 22. The shaft 23 is driven from the motor 4 through abelt 59 to operate spiral, gear 24 which meshes Withspiral gear 21 whichin turn carries a pinion 25. The pinion 25 meshes with the idler gear 26which carries as part of itself the pinion 21 which in turn meshes withand operates gear 28. This latter gear connects with segment I9 throughthe connecting rod 29. The segment l9 meshes with the pinion 42 which isfastened to thecenter post 20 which The brake rings22 extends all; theWay around beneath the planetary support I8 and rides, in a circularpath, upon three or more inclined supports 30, one only being shown, andthis brake ring is actuated by some member, such as rod 3| acting torotate it through an arc to give an axial movement and thus bring itinto or out of contact with support It. The inclined support isindicated at 30.

When the brake ring 22 is, in its highest position the planetary supportI8 is raised and held stationary some distance away from the face ofspiral gear 2| which gear retains its lowest position because ofpressure of spring 4|. h

This is the condition of the mechanism while the washing operation istaking place. The

motor operates to drive the agitator and the tub itself is stationary.

. 3 After the washing is completed the rod Si is actuated by theoperator to rotate the brake ring 22 into its lowest position allowingthe plan- M and tub I which, due to centrifugal force begins todischarge the wash water through openings 8.

As the tub becomes lighter the speed increases and the connecting rod 29together with other oscillating parts in the gear case tend, due tocentrifugal action, to hold themselves in their outermost positions. Asthe speed increases this centrifugal force becomes greater and greateruntil at last the oscillations cease entirely and the agitator i3 isdriven at the same speed as the tub itself which in this case is about600 R. P. M. Near the mid point of the connecting rod 29 is shown anenlargement which is a weight that when acted upon by centrifugal-forceis, as the gear train and planetary gear support revolve, thrown as faras possible from the center of rotation. As the speed increases due tofriction between the sun or spiral gear 2| and the planetary gearsupport I! which is resting directly upon it, this centrifugal force isfinally great enough to prevent these oscillating parts from returningto their innermost positions and the oscillation of the agitator i 3ceases altogether.

At this point the tub takes on the same speed as the spiral gear 21.Since the idler gear 26 cannot rotate with relation to the support l8 it7 becomes simply an arm attached to the gear 25 and moves about it atthe same speed as the support l8:

To rinse the clothes, fresh water may be turned in while the tub isspinning: in 'which case the wateris driven through the clothes bycentrifugal action. Again the tub may be stopped and the clothes rinsedby action of the agitator.

Many uses of this device maybe found beside that of washing clothes andI do not restrict the' patent to the specific showing and descriptionhere made.

What I claim is:

1. Driving mechanism comprising in combination a rotary driving member,two concentric driven members, one forming an extended bearing for theother, and mechanism including an 7 oscillatory dev ce and means foroscillating the latter actuated by said driving member for impartingoscillations to one of said driven members, mechanism tending at. alltimes to transmit rotary motion to the other driven member and meansoperable to render said last mentioned I I late.

mechanism inoperative including a friction brake and to permit saidfirst mechanism to transmit oscillations to said one of said drivenmembers.

2. Driving mechanism of the character described consisting of a drivingspiral gear mounted in a gear case adjacent a turnably mounted element.frictionally engaging parts between the turnablv mounted element and thegear case, frictionally engaging parts between the spiral gear and theturnably mounted element. the first mentioned frictionally engaging partmanually controlled and acting to separate the spiral gear and thesecond mentioned frictionally engaging part.

3. Apparatus oi the character described comprising in combination, agear case, driving means mounted in the gear case, a turnably mountedelement axially movable, means for spiral gear..

anism including a driven spiral gear, an axially movable planetarysupport, a container attached to said support, an oscillatory agitatorlocated within said container and co-axial therewith, an upright postconnected to the agitator and Journaled in said support coaxially withsaid agitator, a gear on the post, and means in mesh with the gear forselectively oscillating the post or for rotating both the agitator andcontainer, said means depending on an axial movement of said support forpreventing the container from rotating while permitting the agitator tooscil- 5. Washing mechanism including two concentric shafts, onecarrying a receptacle and the other an agitator within the receptacle,one rotary and the other oscillatory, a planetary support, drivenmechanism including a gear train carried by the latter and connectedwith said shafts for driving the latter, braking mechanism, and meansfor moving the planetarytsupport in and out of frictional engagementwith one of the gears of said driven mechanism.

6. Driving mechanism including twoconcentricshafts, one rotary and theother oscillatory, a gear case into which one end of said shaftsextends, an axially movable planetary support within the gear case andconstructed and arranged to move with one of said shafts, drivenmechanism including intermeshed gearing carried by the planetarysupport, one of the gears keyed to one of said shafts and the othergears carried by the planetary support, a spiral gear concentric withthe shaft, braking mechanism for moving the planetary support in and outof engagement with the spiral gear.

7.. Washing mechanism including two concentric shafts, one rotary andthe other oscillatory, a planetary support, driven mechanism including agear train carried by the latter and connected withsaid shafts fordriving the latter,

braking mechanism, means for moving the plana gear case into which oneend of said shafts extends, an axially movable planetary support withinthe gear case and constructed and .arranged to move with one of saidshafts, a spiral gear carrying a pinion, a train of gears actuated bysaid pinion, said train of gears housed by the planetary support, apinion secured to one of the shafts, a segment geared to said pinion, aweighted connecting rod extending from said segment to one of the gearsof the train of gears whereby to move the segment by centrifugal force,and brake means for moving the planetary support in and out ofengagement with the 9. Driving mechanism including two concentricshafts, one rotary and the other oscillatory,

a gear case into which one end of said shafts extends, an axiallymovable planetary support within the gear case and constructed andarranged to move with one of said shafts, a spiral gear carrying apinion, a train of gears actu ated by said pinion, said train of gearshoused by the planetary support, a pinion secured to one of the shafts,a segment geared to said pinion, a weighted connecting rod extendingfrom said segment to one of the gears of the train of gears whereby tomove the segment by centrifugal force, brake means for moving theplanetary support in and out of engagement with the spiral gear, saidbraking mechanism constituted by a brake ring rotatably supported withinthe casing in a position adjacent to the planetary support, and meansfor turning and moving the brake ring toward and away from the planetarysupport.

10. In a clothes washer, a rotatably mounted tub for holding washingfluid, a concentric agitator mounted therein, concentric shafts to oneof which the tube is secured, the concentric agitator mounted upon theother shaft, both shafts terminating in a driven mechanism, a planetarysupport within which said mechanism is housed, a gear case, a circularbrake ring located within the latter adjacent to the planetary support,means for transmitting axial movement to the brake ring, a drivingspiral gear, frictional parts between the spiral gear and the planetarysupport, and means for rotating'the brake ring to bring said parts intofrictional contact due to the axial movement of the support.

11. In a clothes washer, a tub for holding the washing fluid, said tubrotatably mounted on a hollow shaft, a concentric agitator mounted upona shaft, a gear-case, both shafts terminating in a. driven mechanismenclosed in a planetary support, the latter being movable axially, atrain of gears housed in said support, a circular brake-ring locatedbetween the bottom of the gear case and support, and means for rotatingthe brake-ring to produce axial movement of the support by creatingfrictional contact between the brake and support.

12. Driving mechanism .including a gear case, two driven and a drivingmember, a planetary mechanism characterized by three concentricallymounted gears, one of which is secured to one of the driven members, andone of which is a spiral gear directl actuated by the driving member, aplanetary support for the planetary mechanism, transmission gearslocated therein, deriving their motion from one of. the concentricgears, an oscillatory segment mounted on the support and having teethmeshed with the gear on one of the driven members, a connecting meansextending from the segment to a crankpin on one of the transmissiongears, and a brake in position to move the planetary support into or outof frictional contact with the spiral gear.

13. Driving mechanism including a Bear case, a planetary gear supportrotatable and axially movable therein, a tubular shaft extending fromthe support through a bearing in the top of the gear case, a center postextending through the tubular shaft, a. gear secured to said centerpost, a. driving gear, a. spiral gear driventhereby, a chain oftransmission gears actuated by the spiral gear, means including atoothed segment mounted to oscillate on the gear support with its teethgeared to the gear on the centerpost,

. transmission gears, and braking means for moving the planetary gearsupport with its tubular shaft into and out of frictional contact withthe spiral gear, whereby to drive or stop the rotation of the tubularshaft.

14. Driving mechanism comprising in combination a rotary driving member,twokconcentric driven members, the outer driven member forming anextended bearing for the inner driven member and being directlyconnected to a tub, the inner driven member being directly connected toan agitator within said tub and mechanism including an oscillatorydevice and means for oscillating the inner driven member actuated bysaid driving member for imparting oscillations to the inner drivenmember,- mechanism tending at all times to transmit rotary motion to theouter driven member and means operable to render said last mentionedmechanism inoperative including a friction brake and to permit saidfirst mechanism to transmit oscillations to said inner driven member.

15. Driving mechanism comprising in combination a rotary driving member,two concentric driven members, one forming an extended bearing for theother and being directly connected to a tub, the other being directlyconnected to an agitator within said tub, and mechanism including anoscillatory device and means for oscillating the latter actuated by saiddriving member for imparting oscillations to one of said driven members,mechanism tending at all times to transmit rotary motion to the otherdriven member, said last mentioned mechanism including a rotatable cageeccentrically carrying said oscillatory device, and means operable torender said last mentioned mechanism inoperative including airictionbrake and to permit said first mechanism to transmit oscillations tosaid one of said driven members.

16. Washing mechanism including a. receptacle rotatable on avertical'axis, a vertical tubular drive shaft fixed thereto, anoscillatable agitator REFERENCES CITED The following references are ofrecord in the file of this patent:

UNITED s'rA'rEs PA'I'ENTS Number Name Date 1,911,630 Lenning May 30,1933 1,991,793 Cureton Feb. 19, 1935 2,109,620 Kirby Mar. 1, 19382,161,604 Watts June 8, 1999' 2,222,329 Watts Nov. 19, 1940 2,267,788Chayie Dec. 30, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date Germany 1931

